Judiciary graft chapter: 3 academicians move Supreme Court against NCERT association ban | India News
NEW DELHI: The three academics appointed as NCERT experts – Prof Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar – who Supreme Court Banned for life for “conveying a negative image of the judiciary” in Class 8 textbooks mentioning corruption in the judiciary, moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking a review of the order. “The Class 6 and Class 7 textbooks deal with the issues … faced by the Legislature, the Election Commission and the Executive … we want to show that the processes followed … are academics with a lot of credibility,” said the petitioners’ counsel.
Appearing for the three, senior advocates Arvind Datar, Gopal Sankaranarayan and Sai Deepak told the bench that the blacklisting of academics has serious implications and urged the bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Jayamalya Bagchir to take up the petitions for speedy hearing.CJI Kant asked, “Are you defending your work?” Sankaranarayanan responded by saying, “We are giving a context (to what is written in the class VIII book). I was present when the newspaper article was mentioned before the court and said how the judiciary is being singled out (in the spread of corruption).”For Danino, Datar said, “the court may consider his detailed explanation.” Deepak said, “It was a collective effort and no one person had the final say.”The SC directed the registry to list the application for hearing. It said that no interference by others in this matter would be allowed.Appearing for the education ministry, Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj asked the bench to set up two committees to scrutinize the existing curriculum and suggest a framework in consultation with the National Judicial Academy to eliminate arbitrary references to the judiciary in school textbooks.
